Four men arrested in ongoing Human Trafficking investigation

Members of the Toronto Police Service Human Trafficking Enforcement Team started an investigation into a Human Trafficking occurrence where two girls, 15 and 16, were allegedly forced to work in the sex trade.

It is alleged that:

the first victim was contacted via social media by a man and they communicated through various social media applications

the man coerced the girl to work in the sex trade

It is further alleged that:

the man traveled with her to a city outside Toronto where another girl was recruited

both girls were transported back to Toronto

one of the girls was then sexually assaulted

over a four-day period, the girls were forced into the sex trade and forced to turn over their money to the man

Police were alerted by one of the girls’ families. As a result, an investigation was started and four men were arrested.

Police would like to encourage all affected individuals to come forward and report Human Trafficking occurrences to police. We want to make sure that everyone has access to support services and an exit strategy, regardless of their decision to proceed criminally.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.

Human Trafficking means every person who recruits, transports, transfers, receives, holds, conceals or harbours a person, or exercises control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation, for a sexual purpose or a forced labour purpose. Victims can be men, women or children; can be Canadian citizens; and can be moved across local, provincial or national borders. They can be coerced through violence or the threat of violence against family and friends. The Human Trafficking Enforcement Team of Sex Crimes is dedicated to investigating these crimes against vulnerable members of society. For more information, please visit the Sex Crimes website.